ShinRa Tower of Terror
by Jade the lovely Goddess
Summary: Blah, just a stupid fic I wrote for the Halloween season. It sucks. Please be kind with your reviews. R
1. Default Chapter

SHINRA TOWER OF TERROR  
by me, Jade ^^  
  
(A/N; Ok, so you don't get confused, this fic is based on the storyline on my and my friends Turk site. If you go there and read the bios in the info section, you'll understand it better.)  
  
Disclaimer: God I hate these things! They're so utterly pointless! Anyway, I don't own any FF7 characters, they're all copyrighted by Squaresoft. I only own myself. And my best friend Rayne owns herself ^^.  
  
  
"God I hate the rain.." Jade sighed as she stared out the car window "Its so gloomy...." The darkened sky roared with thunder as huge droplets of water pounded against the car then cascaded down the windows like liquid crystals, only to get swept away by the hypnotic motion of the windshield wipers. Elena shifted in her seat and joined Jade in staring out the window. The silence in the car was deafening.   
  
"Goddamnit move!!" Reno shouted at the vehicle in front of them "The lights green you moron!!"  
  
"Don't you just love early morning traffic?" Rayne laughed sarcastically.  
  
"Hell no!" Reno cried, pulling through the intersection "Midgar has the worst traffic on the whole damn Planet." He paused a moment, then added grumpily "And the rain just makes it worse.."  
  
"Would you have rather walked to work this moring?" Jade asked as she reached over the seat and gently tugged on Renos ponytail.  
  
"Anythings better than having you guys piled into my car." Reno replied. He smiled at Jade in the rearview mirror "All that hot air from you and Laney is fogging up my windows."  
  
"Hey!" Elena cried defensively "I didn't say anything!"  
  
"You don't have to." Reno told her "You're so full of hot air, that when you breath it...." He was cut off suddenly as Rayne leaned over and smacked the back of his head. "Owww!!" he cried "What the hell was that for?!"  
  
"For opening your mouth and letting all the hot air out." Rayne replied "Now shutup and be nice."  
  
"Fine, sheesh!" Reno grumbled "Ya try to lighten the mood, and look what happens." He brought the car to a stop and waited as the car infront of him turned, before pulling into the ShinRa parking garage. "Another day another dollar." he mumbled, slipping into his special reserved space "You guys really need to start using your own cars."  
  
"We would," Jade said "but commuting is so much easier. Plus it doesn't pollute up the Planet."  
  
"Yeah yeah, whatever." Reno rolled his eyes "Now everyone outta my car."  
  
The small group of friends grumbled sleepily as they piled out of the car, and headed into the building. The sound of heavy boots, and the clicking of high heels, echoed through the stairwell as they made their way to the elevators. "I wish I'd stayed home today." Elena yawned as she straightened out a wrinkle in her suit jacket "This weather makes me so tired."  
  
"You and me both Laney." Jade agreed, bringing her hand to her mouth to stiffle her own yawn "I'll put some coffee on as soon as we get upstairs."  
  
"Screw the coffee!" Reno cried "I need a stiff drink!"  
*********************************  
  
The elevator doors opened with a ding, and everyone stepped out onto the 70th floor. "Honey I'm home." Jade laughed as she headed to the coffee machine. A moment later Rufus poked his head out of his office. "You're 3 seconds late." he said "Try to be on time tomorrow. Wheres my coffee?"  
  
"Its coming." Jade replied "Keep yer pants on pretty boy."  
  
"Hmph!" Rufus snorted and quickly shut his door.  
  
"Gee, what crawled up his ass today?" Rayne asked, casting a scornful look towards the closed office door "Hes awfully pissy for some reason."  
  
"Its probably the weather." Jade remarked. She half sat, half fell into her chair and stared blankly at the stack of papers infront of her. "It never ends...." she mumbled to herself.   
  
"Well, I guess I'm off to the training room." Rayne said, rolling her eyes "Just what I need this early in the morning... a nice workout...." She slumped her shoulders slightly as she headed off down the hall.  
  
"I think I'll join Kitty for a while." Reno sighed "I have nothing better to do." He nodded to his friends and followed after Rayne "Hey babe, wait up!"  
  
Jade watched as her friends each headed in their own directions, all off to get the day started. Once she was alone, the lovely young girl turned her attention back to her paper work. "Might as well get this outta the way now." she said to herself. She had just started filling out the first form, when Rufus' voice echoed from inside his office.  
  
"JADE!!! Coffee!!!"  
  
"Ok, ok!" Jade yelled back "I'm coming!" She pushed her chair out and stood up "God you are so impatient!" She quickly poured a cup of coffee and pushed the office door open. "Your coffee sir." she smirked, setting the steaming cup down on the large desk.  
  
"Thank you." Rufus barely looked at her as he spoke "You may leave now."  
  
Jade didn't budge. Instead she sat down on the edge of the desk and stared at her employer in woderment. Rufus slowly raised his head and met Jades gaze. "Can I help you?" he asked in annoyance.  
  
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Jade asked "You're pissier than usual today. What, did someone walk over your grave or something?"  
  
"I'm just in a bad mood." Rufus replied "Now kindly go away and leave me alone."  
  
"Fine." Jade hopped off the desk "No need to get touchy." She left the office and walked back to her seat. Upon approaching her desk, she noticed her father frantically searching through a stack of papers there on. "What are doing?" Jade asked, causing Hojo to jump, like a child who had been caught with their hand in the cookie jar.  
  
"Oh! Bunny!" Hojos dark green eyes darted nervously between his daughter and the stack of papers "I was just.... looking for something." he lied "I thought maybe it had been stuck in here by mistake."  
  
"I doubt you'll find anything of yours on my desk." Jade eyed him suspiciously "Why don't you try searching that hell hole you call a lab?" She sat down and rested her chin in her hands, as she continued to stare at her father. "Its a wonder how you can find anything at all down there." the girl went on "The place looks like a tornado zone half the time."  
  
"Hmmm...."  
  
Jade sighed and dropped her gaze to the papers Hojo had been looking through. "If by chance there is something of yours up here," she said "I'll be glad to bring it down to you if I find it."  
  
"Yes....thank you Bunny..." Hojo fidgited nervously "I'll be down in the lab... if you find anything, bring it down at once." With that said, the scientist turned and hurried down the hall. "Weirdo..." Jade whispered as she watched her father disappear down the stairwell. She felt another persence in the hall, but didn't bother to look up and see who it was. "Dads up to something..." she said, directing the comment to her mysterious visitor.  
  
There was a long silence, followed by the clinking of a spoon in a cup. "When is he not up to something?" the person asked at length "You're dads one sick little puppy... no offence."  
  
"None taken Cait." Jade glanced up as Reeve sat a cup of coffee infront of her. "He had that look in his eyes." she told him "That one that makes him look crazier than usual. Jenova only knows what the hell he's doing down there."  
  
"Somethings are better left unknown." Reeve replied "What we don't know won't hurt us."  
  
"Yeah," Jade laughed "but this is dad were talking about."  
  
Reeve nodded in agreement as he and Jade both turned to stare in the direction Hojo had went.  
*********************************  
  
"Where is it?!" the cry had come from inside the lab, where Hojo was frantically seaching through his files. "It must be here!" he cried again "It must! I couldn't have misplace something so valuable.." His only reply came in the form of shrieks and moans, emmiting from some nearby cages. "Quiet!" Hojo yelled, tossing a heavy book at one of the cages. The book hit with a clang, and fell to the floor, only silence followed.   
  
Hojo slumped down at his desk and burried his face in his hands. "My greatest expirement...lost.." he mumbled "I must find that file.." Suddenly, a thought entered his mind, causing him to look up. Who was the last person in the lab, other than himself? "Bunny!" he cried, jumping up like he'd just figured out the answer to a question as simple as 'Is water wet?' "But why would she take it?" the man asked himself "Bunny has no interest in my research.... Unless.... unless she knew what it was, and wanted to get rid of it." Hojo smirked as he stood up and walked to one of the many cages that lined the far wall of the lab.  
  
"It doesn't matter." he laughed "The expirement is almost complete. The file is of no importance at the moment. Isn't that right my lovely specimen?" he kicked the bottom of the cage, causing the bars to rattle and shake. From inside came a pitiful half moan, half cry as a dark shadow moved in a far corner. "Pathetic!" Hojo snorted "But not for long.. Oh no.. soon you'll be the greatest thing I've ever created." he turned and started out of the lab. "Its only a matter of time..." 


	2. Chapter 2

"Owww...my back..." Rayne moaned as she popped some pain killers into her mouth and sipped her energy drink "Tseng is so gonna pay for this..."  
  
"Pay for what Pequena?"  
  
Rayne slowly raised her head and glanced towards the lounge door. "Shutup and leave me alone you slave driver..." she mumbled, before laying her head back down and closing her eyes.  
  
"Poor Kitty.." Reno whispered, stroking Raynes long dark hair "Shes had a rough day."  
  
"Yes well, get used to it." Tseng replied, taking a seat across from his friends "Turk trainig is like that. She can't expect me to go easy on her all the time."  
  
Rayne grumbled incoherently into the table top. It sounded something like, "Quiet slut."  
  
"Heh.." Tseng chuckled slightly and patted Raynes head. "Whats wrong Pequena?" he asked mockingly "I'm not that hard on you, am I?"  
  
"Mmmmmm....." Rayne growled and covered her head with her arms.   
  
"Hey." Jade called from the doorway "One of you guys wanna come help me? The copy machine is broken again."  
  
"Did you try kicking it?" Reno asked "That usually does the trick."  
  
"I tried that." Jade replied "It didn't work. I think the storm shorted something out."  
  
"I'll look at it..." Rude said as he stood up and followed Jade out of the lounge.  
  
"Arigatou Rude-san." Jade smiled, leading her friend down the hall towards the copy room. "I don't know whats wrong with it." she told him "It was working fine this morning." The two of them entered the small copy room and headed over to a far corner to examine the unworking machine.  
  
"Its probably the wiring.." Rude said, taking the front cover off the copier "If thats the case.... we'll have to go down and check the circut breakers."  
  
"You mean down in the basement?" Jade blinked "Its creepy down there.... especially with all of dads....things...locked up down in the lab."  
  
Rude looked up and blinked at Jade over the top of his sunglasses. "I'd think you'd be used to it down there." he said "What are you so afraid of?"  
  
"Have you heard the sounds that come from that lab?" Jade asked "Thats scary shit. Oh sure, I go down there on occasion, but I always try to get out as soon as possible. And the basment is dark, and musty... who knows what might be hiding down there...in the dark..."  
  
"........" Rude placed the cover back on the machine and stood up. "Its got to be the breaker." he said, more to himself than Jade "One of us better check it out..... before it shorts out the whole building...." He grabbed a flashlight from a nearby storage shelf and headed out of the room.   
  
"Hey wait up!" Jade called, hurrying after her friend "I'm coming too."  
  
Rude glanced down at her with a slight smile. "What happend to being scared?" he asked.  
  
"Well someone has to go along and make sure its safe." Jade replied "Who knows what you might run into down there. I'm just going along so I can protect you... wouldn't want anything to happen to ya Rude-san."  
  
"Riiight......."  
*********************************  
  
Hojo clasped his arms neatly behind his back as he made his way towards the stairs. It was true, the file he had been searching for was of no major importance at the moment. But he still needed to find it. He couldn't afford for it to fall into the wrong hands. Someone might try to stop his expirment, and he just couldn't have that, could he? The sound of voices caused the man to look up in time to see Jade and Rude walking towards him.   
  
"Hiya papa-san." Jade smiled cheerily "Did ya find that thing you were looking for?"  
  
"Unfortunately no." Hojo replied. He nodded in Rudes general direction, then turned his attention back to Jade. "And where are you off to dear child?"  
  
"Rude and I are goind down to check out the circut breakers."  
  
"Ah..." Hojo nodded "Very well then." he waved the two of them away and continued down the hall. "Stay out of my lab." he called over his shoulder.  
  
"Don't worry we will." Jade called back. She turned around and followed Rude down the stairs. "Do you even know how to fix a blown fuse?" she asked "You don't look very mechanically inclined."  
  
"Whats that supposed to mean?" Rude asked.  
  
"Oh nothing..."  
  
The basment was just as Jade had described it, dark and musty. Huge steel pipes ran along the enitre length of the ceiling, each darting off in different directions like a giant metal spider web. The walls and floor were constructed out of thick cement, and covered with hard water stains. The only sounds in that huge emptiness were Jades high heels clicking on the hard floor, and the occasional hum of a distant generator. "Told you this place was creepy..." Jade whispered, as if the very walls could hear her.  
  
It didn't take them long to locate the breaker they were looking for, and Rude quickly got to work fiddling with the fuses. "Hmmmm....." he sighed, pushing his sunglasses up in order to get a better look at the blown fuse "This shouldn't be too hard...."  
  
"Try to be quick about it.." Jade whispered, her eyes darting nervously around the darkness "This place gives me the heebie jeebies."  
  
"You didn't have to come down here.." Rude told her.  
  
"I know, but someone has to look after you."  
  
"Of course...." Rude smiled at the girl out of the corner of his eye, then went back to checking out the breaker box. Within a few minutes he had changed the fuse, and was going about checking the rest of them. Just as he was about to turn the main power switch back on, a shower of sparks flew from the box, causing the two friends to jump back in alarm. A loud popping sound followed, then another, and another, as the overhead lights went out one by one. ".......!!" Rude stared up at the ceiling in shock.  
  
"What the hell did you do?!" Jade cried "You're supposed to fix it, not make it worse!"  
  
"Don't ask me." Rude replied with a shrug "I'm not mechanically inclined, remember?"  
  
"Well this is just great!" Jade exclaimed, stomping her foot "I bet the powers out all over the building. Gee, nice going Rude!"  
  
".........."  
  
"I should've asked Cait to help me." Jade continued complaining "He knows more about the power than you do. But noooo, I let you do it. And now look whats happend. Serves me right for letting a Turk change a fuse..."  
  
Rude crossed his arms over his chest as he listened to the girl rant. He was about to say something, when a low moan sounded from down the dark corridor. At first the Turk thought it was just his imagination, Jade apparently hadn't heard it, for she kept right on complaining. Rude listented intently for the sound again. Sure enough he heard it, this time a little louder than before.  
  
"And another thing!" Jade went on "Why can't men do anything right! You guys mess up everything, why I..."  
  
"Shhhhh!" Rude put his hand up to silence her "Be quiet for a sec..."  
  
"What?" Jade asked fearfully, glancing around the hallway "What is it?"  
  
"I thought I heard something..... there, hear it?"  
  
Jade held her breath and listened for whatever Rude had heard. Once again, a low moan echoed down the hall, causing Jade to release her breath in a silent gasp. "Its coming from the lab..." she whispered.  
  
"What is that?" Rude asked "It..... it almost sounds human...."  
  
"Rude...." Jade reached out and tugged on her friends sleeve "Can we go now? Please, I wanna go back upstairs."  
  
Rude glanced down at the young girl, fear was written across her pretty face. "Alright..." he said "Lets go.."  
*********************************  
  
The moan seemed to get louder as the two friends passed by the lab. Jade grabbed Rudes arm in fear and he squeezed her hand. "Theres nothing to be afraid of." he told her "Whatever it is, its in there.....locked up in some cage."  
  
"Yeah... I guess so.." Jade sighed a bit and released her grip on the Turks arm "It just sounded so.... unnatural.."  
  
Inside the lab, the moans were much louder. They were coming from the cage Hojo had kicked earlier. A dark, distorded shape moved around in the back of the large steel cage. Whatever it was, it was big. Big enough to rattle the entire prison as it moved. With a loud cry, the creature in the cage began to shake its metal confinement. The steel bars creaked as they bent under the extreme pressure. SNAP! One of the bars broke in two. SNAP! Then another, and another. Whatever was in that cage wanted out. And it was about to get its freedom... 


	3. Chapter 3

"What in the name of Leviathan did you do?!" Rayne cried as Jade and Rude joined their friends in the lounge. Jade was right, the lights were out all over the building. Now all they could do was sit in complete darkness, until they figured out what to do.  
  
"Rude did it!" Jade cired, pointing an accusing finger at the Turk "This is all his fault!"  
  
"......." Rude only shruged as he felt his way towards a table. "Owww!" he winced in pain as his knee bumped a nearby chair.  
  
"Theres a chair there ya dumby!" Jade smirked.  
  
"Well now what?" Reno wanted to know "Are we just supposed to sit around in the dark, twiddling our thumbs?"  
  
"Hey!" Jade shouted excitedly "Maybe Rufus will let us go home early tonight. I mean, we can't very well get any work done in the dark."  
  
"I think you might be on to something." Rayne agreed "He has to let us go home."  
  
"Think again." came a familair voice from the doorway. Rufus slowly made his way into the room, being careful not to trip over anything "No ones going anywhere until we figure out whats wrong with the power."  
  
"Aww man!" Jade grumbled "You are so lame Ruffie!"  
  
"That may be," Rufus replied "but you're still not leaving."  
  
"The generators out too." Reeve called from the hall "It'd take all night to get it fixed. I guess we're just gonna have to crash here for the night."  
  
A low mummer of disaproval swept through the group of friends. The idea of staying over night at work didn't sound too appealing. "Now wait a minute." Jade smiled "This might not be so bad. It could be like a big slumber party."  
  
"Yeah!" Elena agreed happily "We can sit up and do each others hair and makeup."  
  
"There is no way anyones doing my hair or makeup!" Reno cried "Count me out!"  
  
"Fine by me." Jade replied "More fun for me and Laney." She paused a moment and glanced around the dim room. "Anyone seen papa?" she asked.  
  
"Nope." Rayne replied "And I don't care to."  
  
"Last time I saw him, he was on his way down to the lab." Tseng told them "He said something about checking on his specimens... That was half an hour ago."  
  
"Shouldn't he be back by now?" Jade asked worridly "With the power out, it might be a good idea if we all stick together."  
  
"I hate to admit it," Reno sighed "but the kids got a point. Maybe one of us should go find that little creep."  
  
"Well don't look at me." Rayne shook her head "I could care less about that freak. No offense Jade."  
  
"None taken."  
  
"So whos gonna go look for Hojo?" Tseng asked, casting a glance around the room. Everyone exchanged glances, but no one moved. "Well?" Tseng asked again.  
  
"I'll go!" Jade cried. She stood up and left the room, mumbling to herself. A moment later she stuck her head back in the room and smiled sheepishly in the dim light. "Someone go with me." she said "I don't wanna go down there by myself."  
  
"I'll go." Rude and Reeve both replied at once. Both men stopped and looked at each other, as if trying to decide who should go.  
  
"You can both go." Jade sighed "Now come on."  
  
The two men shrugged as they followed Jade out of the room and down the hall. "You're probably worried over nothing Jadie." Reeve said "Your dads probably shut himself up down there, and doesn't want to be bothered."  
  
"You're probably right." Jade replied "But I still want to check on him. I don't know why... but I have a bad feeling about something."  
*********************************  
  
The three of them slowly made their way down to the basement, with an extremely frightened Jade clinging to a blushing Reeve. "Whats with her?" Reeve asked, glancing down at the girl who was holding onto his arm in a death grip.  
  
"Shes scared....." Rude replied with a slight smirk.  
  
"I see."   
  
"Its quiet down here..." Jade whispered softly "Its slightly unsettling."  
  
"It is awfully quiet down here." Reeve agreed "I don't even hear any weird sounds coming from the lab."  
  
"Is that good or bad?" Rude asked. Reeve and Jade only shrugged.  
  
The deafing silence seemed to consume them as they approaced the door to the lab. "Oh my God!" Jade gasped suddenly and took a step back. At first glance, nothing appeard to be wrong, but a second look showed the two men what had upset their young friend. The lab door was ripped off it hinges and leaning against the wall, huge claw marks etched deeply into the thick metal.  
  
"What the..." Rude tore his sunglasses off and stared at the door in utter disbelief. "What could've done this?" he asked quietly "The... the claw marks go straight into the metal...."  
  
Jade just stared at the destroyed door with unblinking eyes. Suddenly, a thought entered her mind, causing her to rush past her friends and into the lab. "DAD!!!" she screamed in fear, not seeming to care about what she might run into. Her only thought was on her father.  
  
"Jade no!" Rude tried to stop her, but he was too late. He and Reeve quickly followed the girl into the lab....or what was left of it. The whole place was destoyed, tables and chairs lay broken on the floor, cages were turned over, claw marks lined the walls... and the blood, so much blood. Jade was the first to notice it. It covered the floor and dripped down the walls.   
  
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Jade screamed in terror at the sight of the blood "Dad!! Oh God...papa...."  
  
"Goddamnit shutup!" Rude placed his hand over Jades mouth to keep her quiet "Do you guys hear that?"  
  
"What?" Reeve listened intently and scanned the dark room with his eyes. Faintly, a low growl sounded from a far corner of the lab.  
  
Jades eyes widened in complete and utter fear. She tried to scream, but Rudes hand was still over her mouth.  
  
"Go, NOW!" Rude cried, shoving Jade towards the door. The girl stumbled slightly, then regained her footing and bolted towards the only way out. After a brief second, it occured to her that her friends weren't with her. She halted in the doorway and spun around. A split second later she wished she had kept going.   
  
Rude was nowhere in sight, but she could see Reeve. "Go, go, go!!!" he shouted at her. Jade started to turn back around and run, when she saw it.. A dark shadow moved behind her friend. It looked about 10ft tall, and it was distorted badly. Jade froze in place, her eyes fixed on the strange shadow.  
  
"Reeve...." she barely managed a whisper, but it was too late. The frightened girl could only watch as a huge tenticle shot out of the darkness, grabbing her friend around the waist.   
  
"AHHHHHH!!!" Reeve screamed in pain. That was the last sound he made before whatever it was completely ripped him in two. Blood splattered across Jades face and clothes, but she didn't scream, she didn't even move. She couldn't move. It wasn't until someone grabbed her from behind that she even made a sound. And then she screamed, a deafening, blood curdling scream.... 


	4. Chapter 4

Jade continued to scream as whoever, or whatever it was pulled her out of the lab and down the hall. Once they were a safe distance frome the lab, her captor stopped and spun the girl around to face him. It was Rude. Even after Jade had seen that she was safe, she just wouldn't stop screaming.  
  
"Jade.... its me." Rude whispered as he shook her gently "Shhhh..."  
  
The young girl stared up at him, with large unblinking eyes. She was white as a ghost, and shaking very badly. Rude pulled a tissue from his jacket and procceeded to wipe the blood off of his friends face. "Its alright now..." he whispered "Just be quiet..."  
  
"It..... it killed him!" Jade shrieked "It killed Reeve!" By now the poor girl was completely hysterical. "It killed him!" she screamed again, frantically trying to wipe the blood off her clothes "It won't come off! Oh God, the blood won't come off!!!"  
  
"Jade be quiet!" Rude shook her again, but nothing seemed to stop her screaming. With a heavy sigh, the Turk did the only thing he could think of, he slapped her. Apparently that did the trick, for Jade instantly shutup. She looked up at Rude with a mixture of confusion and fear. And then the tears started. Huge, painful tears rolled down the girls face, causing her small shoulders to shake with each sorrowful sob. She fell foward and burried her face in the front of Rudes jacket.  
  
"......" Rude stared down at the girl who was now clinging to him as if her very life depended on it.. And as far as either of them knew, it very well did. "Shhh... its alright..." The Turk tried his best to comfort the crying girl, but he just wasn't very good at things like this. After a moment, he pryed her fingers from his jacket, and held her at arms length. "Jade... I want you to stay right here... I have to go...." That was all he managed to say before Jade became hysterical again.  
  
"Noo..." she whisper screamed "Don't leave, please... Rude don't leave me here."  
  
"I'll be right back.." Rude told her "I just need to make sure its safe.. As soon as everythings ok, we'll head back to the stairs and get the hell outta here."  
  
"Al...alright." Jade nodded slowly "Please be careful." Rude patted her head, then turned and disappeared down the dark hall. With a trembling sigh, Jade slid down the wall and sat on the cold concrete floor. Rudes boots echoed somewhere off in the distance, then everything was silent. The faint glow from Jades Mako green eyes, cast a very dim light in the dark. It was then that she realized what a sitting target she was. Her eyes were easy to see in the dark, even though they only cast a very faint light.  
  
"Shit..." Jade whispered to herself. She couldn't just sit here, knowing that... THING..was out there. But she told Rude she'd stay put. What was she gonna do? The girl quickly shut her eyes to drown out their glow, and pulled her knees up to her chin. A slight shuffling sound from somewhere down the hall caused her to reopen her eyes and jerk her head up. Something was moving towards her in the darkness. "Rude...?" she whispered, her voice choked with fear. No answer..  
  
*********************************  
"How long has it been?" Reno asked, strainging to see his watch in the dark "They should've been back by now."  
  
"Hes right.." Rayne sighed "I hope they didn't get lost down there..."  
  
"Maybe they ran into one of Hojos things." Elena forced a laugh.  
  
"Thats not funny 'Lena!" Reno shouted "Don't say things like that."  
  
"Ok now I'm worried..." Rayne said, wringing her hands together "What if somethings wrong? One of us should go look for them."  
  
"I'll go." Reno volunteered, pulling out his mag-rod "Theres nothing down there that I can't handle." With that said, he left the room, and headed towards the basement.  
  
Rayne and Elena exchanged nervous glances, before quickly running after Reno. "We're going with you." Elena said when they had caught up with him "It might be easier if we split up to look for them."  
  
"Alright fine." Reno shruged "You can come if ya want.. but don't go jumping on me at the first scary noise ya hear.."  
  
Back in the lounge, Tseng and Rufus sat and waited.. Waited for their friends to return. "Do you think she's ok?" Rufus asked, more to himself than Tseng.  
  
"Who..?" Tseng looked up and raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Huh?" Rufus blinked "Oh nothing.. nevermind."  
  
"Hmmm.." Tseng chuckled to himself "You like her, don't you sir?"  
  
"What? Who?" Rufus cried, startled at the question.  
  
"Jade."  
  
"Wha... No, of course not!" Rufus shook his head "I mean.. shes a good kid, but I don't.. at least I don't think.." He paused suddenly and glared at the dark haird Turk. "Thats is none of your business!" he shouted "It doesn't concern you, so just drop it!"  
  
"Yes sir.." Tseng replied quietly.  
  
*********************************  
  
"Rude?" Jade whispered again. The shuffling sound was getting closer now. It almost sounded like footsteps, but it was hard to tell with the echos. Jade wimpered softly and burried her face in her arms as a dark shadow loomed infront of her. The girl closed her eyes as tight as she could and waited for whatever it was to kill her and get it over with. When a few moments had passed, and nothing had happened, she took a risk and opened her eyes.   
  
"Ah!" she gasped softly as her green eyes reflected off of a pair of reading glasses "Papa...?"  
  
"Shhh..." Hojo nodded quietly "Yes, its me.."  
  
"Oh papa!" Jade cried, throwing her arms around her father "I thought you were....."  
  
"Dead? Oh no, I'm very much alive." Hojo replied, retuning his daughters hug "What about you Bunny? Are you alright?"  
  
"I... I think so.." Jade sniffed "Theres something down here.. It.. it killed Reeve."  
  
"Yes, I know." Hojo sighed "I'm very sorry about your friend Bunny, but theres nothing we can do. Right now we must get upstairs before it finds us." He started to pull Jade to her feet, but the girl resisted.  
  
"No." she said "I can't. Rudes still down here.. I told him I wouldn't move."  
  
"I hate to tell you this dear child," Hojo spoke in a low whisper "but that Turk is as good as dead down here. Now get up! You must come with me! If you stay here, it'll kill you too!"  
  
Jade blinked at the thought of Rude dieing too. That couldn't happen... could it? "Ok.." she said after a moment "I'll go..."  
  
"Good." Hojo helped the girl up and ushered her down the hall "Hurry, and keep quiet."  
  
Jade walked swiftly down the dark corridor, with Hojo right behind her. Her mako green eyes darted around her, searching for her missing friend. There was no sign of Rude anywhere. 'What if dads right?' she thought to herself 'What if it got Rude too.....' A low moan echoed from somewhere behind them, causing Jade to freeze in her tracks. "Papa?" she whispered.  
  
"Run.." Hojo replied softly "The stairs are right ahead.. Run!"  
  
Jade turned and darted down the hall. All she wanted to do was get the hell outta that basement. Her high heels clicked loudly on the hard floor as she ran, and echoed off the concrete walls.   
  
*********************************  
  
After Rude had left Jade, he made his way in the direction he was sure the stairs were. But in the dark he couldn't be too sure. He had walked around down there for what seemed like an enternity, before deciding to go back and find the girl. Unfortunately, he didn't have the slightest idea which way to go. There were so many twists and turns, the whole basement was like a huge maze.   
  
Rude picked a random corridor, and was about to check it out, when a slight movment caught his eye. Someone, or something was moving around down the hall he had just picked. From the looks of it, it was about 10ft tall, and roughly shaped like some type of water buffalo. Rude stared at the dark shadow for a brief moment, before it finally noticed him. With a loud growl, the creature tore down the hall in Rudes direction. Apparently, whatever it was didn't like to be watched.   
  
The Turk barely had time to react before the creature was right on top of him. It plowed into him with such force, that Rude was thown back a good 6 feet, crashing into a far wall. But the creature didn't stop there, it charged at the fallen Turk, its huge tenticles slashing throught the air likes razors. With one swift motion, Rude rolled out of the way and drew his gun.  
  
The whole basement exploded with the sound of gun fire, as Rude emptied an entire clip into the huge beast. The creature let out a painful cry as it turned and feld in the opposite direction, leaving its fallen prey behind. Once it had disappeared back into the darkness, Rude sighed heavily and collapsed on the floor. 


	5. Chapter 5

Jade wasn't sure if she was going in the right direction or not, and she didn't care. She just kept running, trying to put as much distance as she could between her, and whatever was behind her. A quick glance over her left shoulder told her that her father was no longer behind her. Feeling completely lost, the girl stopped to catch her breath, and figure out where she was.   
  
Hojo had obviosly misjudged the location of the stairs, for Jade had been running for quiet some time..and still no sign of a way out. It seemed like this horrid labyrinth just went on and on. Jade glanced nervously around at her surroundings. There were several halls, both to her right and left. Now all she had to do was figure out which way to go. She was standing in the middle of a kind of intersection, with hall directly to her left and right. There was only one way to figure out the way to go...  
  
"Eenie, meenie, minie...." Her voice trailed off as gun shots echoed down the hall from somewhere to her right. Without any hesitation, the girl took of in the direction of the shots. The gun shots alone were proof enough that Rude was still alive. Jade could only hope he was still that way when she found him.  
  
It wasn't long before she reached another intersection and had to figure out which way to go. A soft moan told her to go left. After taking a few steps down the corridor, she found her missing friend. "Rude!" Jade let out a cry of relief as she dropped to her knees beside the fallen Turk.   
  
Rude slowly lifted his head and looked up at the girl who was kneeling over him with a look of worry on her face. ".....Jade?"  
  
"Oh Rude, I'm so glad you're ok!" Jade cried as she tackled the Turk in a big hug.  
  
"Owww..." Rude winced slightly, but managed to return the girls embrace "Nice to see you too Jade.."  
  
After a second, Jade pulled away and glared at her friend. "Don't you EVER do that to me again!" she yelled, giving him a hard punch in the arm "You scared me half to death ya big meanie!"  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"Oh my God, you're bleeding!" Jade cried in alarm.  
  
Rude reached up and wiped the blood away from his face. "Its nothing..." he said "Just a little bump on the head."  
  
"A little bump?!" Jade exclaimed "You're gushing blood all over the place! Oh this isn't good... not good at all. Come on." she grabbed Rudes hand and tried her best to help him up. "Come on Rude-san.. You have to get up. We have to get outta here."  
  
"No..." Rude replied "I'd just slow you down... go on without me."  
  
"NEVER!" Jade cried, hurt that he'd even suggest such a thing "You're one of my best friends, I will not leave you here to get killed."  
  
"If you stay...you'll get killed too."  
  
"Then so be it!" Jade sat down and crossed her arms "I am not moving from this spot until you get up and go with me!"  
  
"You know," Rude pulled himself up and stared at the girl in annoyance "you're as stubborn as Reno..."  
  
"Oh yeah?!" Jade returned the look and stuck her toung out "Well you're as stupid as... as... as a rock! HMPH!" she turned away and stared off down the hall "And you're a jerk too..."  
  
".........?!"  
  
************************************************************************  
  
"Holy shit!" Reno cried in alarm as he and the two girls neared the lab "What the name of Shiva happened in here?!" He quickly charged up his mag-rod and slowly entered the lab, followed closely by Rayne and Elena.   
  
"Look at all the blood...." Elenas voice trailed off in fear and disgust "Do.... do you think its human blood?"  
  
"I don't know.." Rayne blinked at the horrible sight before them.   
  
"Come on." Reno turned and left the lab "We gotta find the other, before whatever did this does."  
  
"And before it finds us." Elena added as they followed the red head down the hall.  
  
"Ruuuuuude!" Rayne shouted through the darkness "JAAAAAADE!!!!!"  
  
"Hey, look at this!" Elenas shouts caused her friends to turn and look where she was pointing. There was a trail of blood on the floor, leading off down a random hallway "Maybe we should follow it." Elena suggested.  
  
"I don't want to follow it." Rayne replied "I'm afraid of what we might find."  
  
"Well right now its our only lead." Reno told them "It might lead us to the guys. Come on!" he took off down the hall, with Rayne and Elena in hot persuit.   
  
"Its so dark." Elena whispered, scanning the area with her flashlight "And the blood just goes on and on...."  
  
Before long, the three of them reached a dead end. Lost in utter confusion, they just stood there, staring at the concrete wall that stood before them. "Its a dead end.." Rayne spoke in a whisper "The trail just ends right here."  
  
"No it doesn't." Reno replied "Look."   
  
The two girl raised their eyes and glanced up the wall. Sure enough, the trail of blood went right up it, and disappeared into the pipes above. "What in the..." Elena shined her light towards the ceiling "How is that possible?"  
  
"There!" Ranye cried, pointing to a huge hole above one of the pipes "The trail leads in there."  
  
"Uhh....guys...?" Renos voice broke into the conversation "I think you might wanna take a look at this..." The Turk was stooped down on the floor, gazing intently at a small object in his hand.  
  
"What is it?" Elena asked, her voice choked with fear. She peered over Renos shoulder and gasped at what she saw. In his hand was an old class ring from Midgar High School, it was covered in blood.. The name on the ring read Reeve Powers.... 


	6. Chapter 6

"Its....its Reeve class ring..." Rayne swallowed nervously "Do you think hes...."  
  
"I have no idea." Reno replied. He stood up and stuck the ring in his pocket. "I'm going up.." he said, as he grabbed onto an overhead pipe and started to climb up to the hole.  
  
"Are you nuts?!" Rayne cried, grabbing the Turks leg "You don't know what up there!"  
  
"You're right." Reno told her "But I'm gonna find out. What if Jade and Rude are up there?"  
  
"For all we know they could be dead..." Rayne replied sadly "You saw the blood, we all saw it."  
  
"That doesn't matter!" Reno shouted "I have to know for sure. Now I'm going up there. You guys can wait here for me if you want."  
  
"Please Reno." Rayne begged "Don't go up there. I have a bad feeling about..." her voice trailed off as gun shots echoed from somewhere behind them.  
  
****************************************  
  
After following the sound of the gun shots, it didn't take them long to locate Rude and Jade. They found them sitting on the floor in some random hall, with Jade trying her best to keep a very disorented Rude from falling asleep. From the looks of things, the Turk had lost a lot of blood from a huge gash in his head.   
  
The reunion had been a brief but happy on. Jade had pratically thrown herself into Renos arms, crying and mumbling about some grotesque creature that had killed Reeve. It didn't take them long to figure out what had happened. From the way things looked, one of Hojos expirements had gotten loose, destroyed the lab, killed Reeve, and was now lurking around somewhere in the dark.   
  
It was then that they decided it would be stupid to stick around down there. Reno helped Rude up, and was half carrying, half dragging him down the hall, when they ran into that thing. The battle that insued was a ferce one. The creature lashed out at the small group with its razor like tenticles, causing them to scatter in different directions. Rayne and Elena both fired round after round of bullets into the beast, with Reno zapping it with his mag-rod every chance he got.   
  
With Rude hurt like he was, the fight wasn't going too well, and it seemed like the worse was upon them. Jade had taken cover with Rude in another corridor, the sounds of the battle ringing in her ears. She wanted to help her friends, but she wasn't much of a fighter. She knew she had to do something, but what?  
  
"We can't keep this up forever!" Rayne shouted as the creature knocked her into a wall. She hit with a slight thud and slid down to the floor.   
  
"Kitty!!" Reno rushed over to help Rayne, but a stray tenticle shot out, sending him tumbling head first into the same wall Rayne had hit.   
  
In her hiding spot, Jade was beging to get edgy. She closed her eyes, and covered her ears, trying to drown out the sounds comeing from around the corner. It wasn't until she heard Elena scream, that she finally worked up the courage to do something. The sound of her friends scream caused something to snap inside Jades head. Her eyes opened suddenly and she jumped to her feet. If she was going to do something, now was the time. She reached into her jacket pocket and produced a small glowing orb. Holding it tightly in her hand, she darted around the corner.  
  
The creature was still lashing out at Reno and the others, it didn't even notice Jade until it was too late. "STOP!!" Jade screamed, cauing the creature to turn towards her. It was even more hidious up close. Its body was deformed and hunched over, like some twisted buffalo thing. Huge razor sharp tenticles shot out from every inch of its gruesome figure, and its eyes were blood red, and set far back in its head.   
  
The beast stared at Jade for a moment, as if trying to figure out what to do with her. It hesitated a second, before taking a step towards the girl. Jade trembled a bit, but stood her ground. "Jade!" Reno cried weakly "Get outta there!"  
  
Jade ingnored her friends warning, taking a small step forward. "Leave my friends alone you ugly creep!" she screamed "I won't let you take them away from me like you did Reeve!"  
  
At this, the creature threw its head back and let out a strange sound.. almost like it was laughing. It was then that Jade heard it, a small raspy voice in the back of her mind. "And just what do you plan to do about it little one?" the voice asked. Jade gasped in surprise at the voice, where had it come from? Her eyes darted all around her, but there was no one there, save herself and the creature.   
  
It didn't take the girl long to figure out what had just happened. "Its telepathic!" she cried "It can read our minds!"  
  
"Very clever.." the voice echoed through her mind again "But not clever enough!" With a loud cry, the creature charged at the defensless young girl, tenticles swishing through the air like whips. Jade didn't budge however, she just stood there, and waited. When the creature was about 5 feet away from her, she held up the small orb the had been conceled in her hand.   
  
"FIRE 3!!!"  
  
Burning flames engulfed the creature, causing it to cry out in pain. It stopped, just inches before the girl, convulsing and screaming. Jades plan had worked, but not as well as she had hoped. The creature then turned and began to burrow through the floor, like a huge gopher. Cement and dirt flew everywhere as it disapepared into the black void below.   
  
Jade sighed in relief and placed the fire materia safely back in her pocket. Her friends were safe for now. Unfortunately, she wasn't. The girl chanced a peek down into the hole where the creature had just vanished, what she saw filled her with the uttmost dread. Two huge red eyes were staring back at her from the darkness. Jade tried to turn and run, but something was holding her in place. Slowly, she lowered her eyes and glanced at her feet. The creatures sickening laughter roared through the basement, as Jades eyes came to rest on the tenticle that was wrapped around her ankle.   
  
"Holy shi...." Jade barely got the words out as the creature began to pull her into the hole with it. The girl closed her eyes and awaited her fate, but someone else grabbed her from behind. "Hold on kid!"  
  
Jade opened her eyes at the sound of Renos voice. The Turk had grabbed the young girl around the waist, and was doing his best to pull her out of the creatures grasp. Jade kicked her feet, trying to loosen the tenticles grip on her ankle, but it held tight. It wasn't until Reno leaned forward and zapped it with his mag-rod, that the thing finally let go, causing Jade and Reno to tumble backwards. The creature was gone, disappeared in the the black hole.   
  
"Come on." Reno helped Jade to her feet, then rushed over to help the others "We have to get the hell outta here, before that thing comes back."  
  
"Anyone got a cure materia?" Elena asked as she slowly got to her feet "I think I left mine upstairs."  
  
"Not me.." Reno replied "I didn't think I'd need it."  
  
"What about you Jade?" Rayne asked "You're the materia person here. I know you've gotta have one."  
  
Everyone turned to look at Jade, who was frantically digging her materia out of her pockets. "Lets see..." she mumbled to herself "Fire, Ice, Lightning, All, KoTR..... nope, no cure."  
  
"Damn.." Reno sighed "Oh well, guess we'll just have to wait til we get upstairs to cure everyone."  
  
"I can't believe you don't have a cure materia.." Rude grumbled as Reno helped carry him back down the hall "I thought you collected the stuff...."  
  
"I do!" Jade retorted "But you can't expect me to carry all my materia at once!"  
  
"Enough!" Rayne cried, rubbing her head "I just wanna get back upstairs so we can figure out where to go from here."  
  
Everyone was silent as they slowly made their way up the dark stairwell. With the power out, the elevators weren't in working order, so the only way up was to climb. And what a long, tireing climb it was too. It seemed like it took forever just to reach the main floor of the building. After a brief stop to catch their breaths, the five friends started up again towards the lounge.  
  
  
  
(More coming soon... I hope.. Writers block is taking its toll on me -_-;) 


	7. chapter 7

Tseng sighed as he stared out the window overlooking Midgar. It was still raining, and the dark storm clouds completely covered the moon, and what few stars there were to begin with. The dark haired Turk glanced over his shoulder to where Rufus was sitting. "They're not back yet.." He said solomly.  
  
"I can see that." Rufus replied, not bothering to look up at his employee "Maybe they got ate by some weird monster of Hojos."  
  
"Excuse me for saying sir," Tseng spoke softly "but thats completely absurd."  
  
"Actually, it ain't too far from the truth." Renos voices caused the two men to look towards the door.  
  
"What happened to you?!" Tseng cried, rushing over to help Reno get Rude to a couch "You look like you just went though hell and back."  
  
"You can say that again." Rayne sighed, plopping down into a nearby chair. She reached up and tried to straighten out her hair, which was tangled and matted with blood. The others didn't look any better. Reno and Elena were banged up pretty badly. Bruises and bumps covered them from head to toe. And Rude, he just looked like he'd been hit with a mack truck. Out of all of them, Jade was the only one who didn't look near as bad. Except from some minor scrapes and cuts, and the fact that she was covered in blood, she actually looked ok.  
  
"Care to explain what happened?" Tseng asked "Or do I want to know?"  
  
"Oh you wanna know." Reno replied "Its not pretty though." He took a deep breath as he explained exactly what had happened to them. He told them about the lab, and the trail of blood. Then about fighting some weird creature, that according to Jade was able to read their minds. He left out nothing.  
  
"And you think its one of Hojos....things?" Tseng asked once Reno had finished.  
  
"I'd put money on it." Reno replied.  
  
"Speaking of that creep, where is he?" Rayne glanced around the room "This is all his fault. I'm gonna kill him!"  
  
"Hes dead...." Rude replied from the couch.  
  
"No hes not!" Jade cried "Dads alive, he helped me escape from that thing downstairs."  
  
"Well hes probably dead now." Rayne sighed "Lucky for him.. Now I don't get the chance to kill him myself."  
  
"No ones killing anyone." Tseng spoke up "What we need to do is get out of the building."   
  
"And leave that thing in here?" Reno asked "What if it got out into the city?"  
  
"Hes right...." Rude replied "Besides.... we can't leave anyway.."  
  
"Why the hell not?!" Rayne wanted to know.  
  
"Because.." Rude told her "When the power goes out, all the doors lock automatically.... You'll need a set of keys to get them open.."  
  
"Break the glass." Elena suggested.  
  
"Can't... its shatter proof.." Rude sighed "We're stuck here..."  
  
"Whos fucked up idea was it to design the place like that?!" Reno shouted "Thats the stupidest thing I've ever heard!"  
  
"Reeve designed the building...." Rude said sadly.  
  
"Oooooohhh...." Jade groaned softly at the mention of Reeves name, and buried her face in her hands.  
  
"Oh..." Reno lowered his eyes "I forgot... I'm sorry Jade."  
  
"Nothing to speak of.." Jade waved his words away like swatting flys.  
  
"Hey!" Reno raised his head "I found something down there... I'm not sure, but I thought you might like to have it." he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small blood stained ring. "Here.." he sat it down on the table infront of Jade.  
  
Jade blinked at the tiny object for a moment, her eyes filled with tears. With a sorrowful sigh, she picked it up and placed it on her finger. "It doesn't fit..." she forced a small laugh, but her voice was filled with sadness. She stared down at the ring on her finger. The blood caused the garnet in it to sparkle like fire.   
  
"What kind of stone it that?" Elena asked, trying to lighten the mood a little.  
  
"Garnet." Jade replied, "Its... was Reeves birthstone..."  
  
"I hate to interuppted all this remincing," Reno spoke up "but we still need a cure materia over here."  
  
"Oh!" Jade raised her head "I'm sorry, I totally forgot. Hold on, I think I have one in my purse." she stood up and darted out of the room, only to return a short time later with small leather bag. "This is all the materia I have." she said, dumping the contents of the bag onto a table. Dozens of brightly colored orbs fell from the bag and rolled across the table top.   
  
"Don't let the roll off!" Rayne cried "You'll never find them in the dark."  
  
"Here it is!" Jade exclaimed, holding up one of the orbs "I hope this works... Cure All!!"  
  
Within a matter of seconds, everyone had been cured. Well, as good as they could be anyway. A few scrapes remained, as well as some slight aches and pains. But at least they weren't as bad as before.   
  
"Thanks Jade..." Rude smiled as he pulled himself to a sitting postion on the couch.  
  
"Oh gee," Jade smirked "I cured you too? Damn, wasn't trying to." she stuck her tounge out at the bald Turk, only to get the same gesture in return.  
  
"Well, good to see we're all fine and dandy now." Rufus stood up and walked to the window "Now how do we get out of here?"  
  
"I already told you we don't." Rude replied "You need the keys.... and Reeve had the keys."  
  
"Well then you're just going to have to find the keys." Rufus said as he flipped a lock of blonde hair out of his face "I can't afford to stay here with that creature running amuck. What if I were killed?"  
  
"Wouldn't be that much of a loss." Jade replied under her breath.  
  
"What was that?" Rufus turned to glare at the girl.  
  
"Nothing sir." Jade smiled sheepishly.  
  
"So whats the plan?" Reno wanted to know "I say we find that thing and really kick its ass."  
  
"No good." Rayne shook her head "We don't know anything about it. For all we know, it could be emune to all kinds of shit."  
  
"Fire seemed to work pretty well against it." Jade replied "At least it did the job."  
  
"My daughters right.." came a voice from the doorway. Everyone turned around as Hojo entered the room. His lab coat was stained with blood, and tattered along the bottom, and his glasses were cracked in several places.  
  
"YOU!!!" Rayne cried in anger "This is all your fault!!" she quickly jumped up, seizing Hojo by the collar and slamming him against a wall "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now!"  
  
"Simple." Hojo smirked "I created it, and I know how to stop it."  
  
"Grrrrrrrr!!!" Rayne shoved Hojo to the floor "You lucky little freak!"  
  
"Hmph!" Hojo stood up and brushed himself off "My aren't we touchy."  
  
"You're goddamned right I'm touchy!" Rayne yelled "Because of you, Reeves dead, and we're all gonna be next!! If we get outta here alive, I am so gonna murder you, you sick little bastard!!"  
  
"Just try it!" Hojo yelled back.  
  
"Why you little!!" Rayne started at Hojo again, but Jade stopped her.  
  
"Please stop." Jade begged "I can't take it anymore. I just wanna get outta here alive..."  
  
"We all do..." Rude replied.  
  
"Aright," Tseng sighed "How do we stop this thing Hojo?"  
  
"I'm so glad you asked." Hojo smirked "Allow me to explain..." 


	8. chapter 8

"Why papa?" Jade asked once Hojo had finished his explination "Why did you create that thing?"  
  
"Because Bunny," Hojo replied "I wanted to create something that was virtually indestuctable. However, even it has its flaws. You yourself saw its reaction to fire."  
  
"Well what are we waiting for?!" Reno cried "Grab some fire materia, and lets go kick some monster ass!"  
  
"I'm afriad it isn't that simple." Hojo told him "Simple fire materia doesn't have the effect we need. Nothing short of burning down the entire building will stop it."  
  
"WHAT?!?!" Rufus was shocked "Burn down MY building? NEVER!!"  
  
"Well what do you suggest we do?" Jade asked "You wanna stay here and get eaten by that thing?!"  
  
"Shes got a point." Reno said "If its the only way to stop that thing, I'm all for it."  
  
"Good." Hojo smiled "If you're all willing to trust me, I think I have a plan."  
  
"I'll never trust you!" Rayne shouted "Its your fault we're in this mess. How do we know this isn't some trick of yours?"  
  
"You won't know until you trust me." Hojo replied "Besides, do you really think I'd risk my own daughters life?"  
  
"I wouldn't put it past ya you freak.."  
  
"Flattery will get you nowhere with me Miss Woo." Hojo smirked at Rayne "Now, are you going to trust me or not? Make up your minds now, there isn't much time before it finds its way upstairs."  
  
"I trust you papa." Jade whispered "What do you think we should do?"  
  
"Well," Hojo replied "First we're going to need a bit of help. Thats your department Bunny. I think you know what I mean."  
  
"Right!" Jade nodded "I'll get on that right now." she jumped up and hurried from the lounge.  
  
"Get on what?" Reno asked "Whats she talking about?"  
  
"You'll see in good time." Hojo replied "Tseng, go with my daughter, and don't let her out of your site. I don't want anything to happen to her."  
  
"Alright." Tseng nodded and followed Jade down the hall, while Hojo began to fill everyone else in on his plan.  
  
**************************  
  
"Care to tell me what this is all about?" Tseng asked once he had caught up with Jade.  
  
"You heard dad." Jade smiled "We're gonna need help. And at the moment, theres only one person...err...thing that can help us. Its the only choice we've got."  
  
"You mean?"  
  
"Thats right, I'm gonna activate Cait Sith."  
  
"Do you even know how to operate him?" Tseng wanted to know "Don't we need Reeve to do it?"  
  
"Of course I know how to operate him." Jade replied "I helped design this model. And no, we don't need Reeve. Cait Sith can operate by himself now... all we need to do is get him up and running." she paused as she unlocked Reeves office door. The office was dark and silent, much like the rest of the building. In a far corner sat the figure of Cait Sith. He almost looked like he was sleeping.  
  
"Wakie wakie." Jade whispered sofly as she began to fiddle with the robots electronic workings. A moment later, the cats eyes snapped open.  
  
"Hiya Jadie!" he smiled goofily "Whats up?"  
  
"Hey cat." Jade forced a smile, but the look on her face was one of pain.   
  
"Whats wrong?" Cait asked "You look so sad. Did someone die or something?"  
  
Jade nodded slowly and lowered her eyes. Cait Sith followed her gaze, his eyes coming to rest on the class ring on the girls finger. "Reeve...." he wispered, lifting his head to stare at Jade again "How...?"  
  
"Long story cat." Jade replied sadly. She began to explain about the power going out, and the creature downstairs getting loose. She told him about Reeves horrible death, and about what she and her friends had went through just to get back upstairs to safety.  
  
"Oh..." Cait sighed "Is he really gone?"  
  
"Hes gone...." Jade nodded "I saw him die. It was horrible cat....." her voice trailed off as she started to cry again "I just can't stop thinking about it.. I can't get the image outta my head.." she choked on a sob and burried her face in her hands "I just keep thinking that this is all a bad dream, and that when I wake up he'll be there. But I know he won't..." At that moment, realization finally set in and Jade fell to her knees, sobbing uncontrolably.   
  
"Oh Jadie, don't cry." Cait hopped off of his Moogle and sat in the floor next to his crying friend "You still have me."  
  
Jade lifted head and smiled at the small cat beside her. "I know..." she whispered, tears falling from her eyes "But I miss him.. I just can't believe I'll never see him again. You... you should've seen him right before he died. All he was concerned about was getting me outta there. Even when that thing grabbed him.. he smiled at me just before he... I can't believe hes gone."  
  
"Its ok Jadie." Cait smiled up at her "I'm here, and all your friends are here. You'll be alright."  
  
"Hes right." Tseng replied, gently pulling Jade to her feet "You have us."  
  
"Thanks guys." Jade smiled weakly "But its not the same.. Reeve was my best friend."  
  
"I know he was." Cait replied "And I know I'm not the best replacement, but I am a part of him. I'll be your best friend now." he flashed her another of his goofy smiles.   
  
"Thanks cat." Jade returned the smile and wiped the tears from her eyes "Come on, we have to go find a way to stop that thing. I wanna pay it back for what it did to Reeve."  
  
"So do I." Cait agreed, climbing back onto his Moogle "Lead the way Jadie." With that, they followed Jade out of the office and back to the lounge. 


	9. chapter 9

It didn't take long for a plan to be devised. Someone would act as bait, to lure the monster into a trap, after that the only thing left to do was get out of the building before setting fire to it. Unfortunately, the position of "bait" had fallen to the only person less capable of defeding themselves.  
  
"Why me?!" Jade cried "I don't wanna be the bait! Make the cat be the bait!!"  
  
"HEY!!" Cait blinked in shock "Some friend you are!"  
  
"You have to be the bait Bunny." Hojo explained "The creature knows you can't defend yourself, therefore you'll be the first person it goes after. But don't worry, we won't let anything happen to you."  
  
"Well now I feel so much better..." Jade replied sarcastically "If I die, I'm coming back to haunt all your asses!"  
  
"You're not going to die." Hojo told her "Just do as I say, and everything will be fine."  
  
"I can't believe I gotta trust you." Rayne glared at the scientist "You're completely insane! Risking Jades life like that..."  
  
"Don't start.." Reno sighed "We don't have time for it. Lets just get this over with so we can put a stop to that thing down there."  
  
"Thank you Reno." Hojo nodded at the red head Turk "Now, if you're all ready, we can get started."  
  
"Wait!" Jade cried "I'm not ready! I haven't written out my will yet!"  
  
"Theres no time." Hojo told her "We must act now."  
  
"Alright, lets go." Tseng said "Lead the way Hojo."  
  
Everyone stood and followed the scientist out of the lounge, with Jade lagging behind, mumbling about her will.   
  
"Lets see.." the girl mumbled to herself "My clothes go to Rayne and Elena. All my bills go to Reno. Rude can have my car.. And everything else goes to the cat!!!"  
  
"Yeeeeessss!!!" Cait hopped up and down excitedly "Finally, that 32 disc CD changer is mine!!"  
  
"What about me?" Rufus asked "Don't I get anything?"  
  
"Oh will you knock it off?!" Rayne cried "Stop acting like Jades gonna die!!"  
  
"Yeah!" Jade yelled "What Rayne said! Wait a minute! I am gonna die!! I am so gonna die....."  
  
"Think of it this way Jadie," Cait smiled at the girl "if you die, you'll get to see Reeve again."  
  
"I never thought of that." Jade excalimed "You might have a poi... What the hell am I talking about?! You want me to get killed don't you, you little pest?!"  
  
"Who me? Perish the thought." Cait smiled innocently, then added softly "That CD changer is almost mine..."  
  
"I heard that!"  
  
**********************************  
  
"Are you sure this will work?" Reno asked as he peered over Hojos shoulder "It seems kinda farfetched to me."  
  
"Of course it will work." Hojo snorted "I already told you that I created that thing, and I can destroy it." The scientist took a step back and examined the huge steel cage he had just constucted. "I believe we're ready."  
  
"We?!" Jade cried in alarm, her eyes darting nervously around the dark basement "Whats this we shit?!"  
  
"Come now Bunny," Hojo ushered his daughter into the cage "theres nothing to be afraid of."  
  
"You say that now.." Jade replied "But just wait til I'm being ripped to pieces by some huge monster thingy."  
  
"You'll be perfectly safe." Hojo reassured her "Just sit in the cage and make some noise to get its attention. When it gets close enough, you'll go out the back of the cage, and we'll have it trapped. If anything should go wrong, you're friends and I will be waiting around that corner over there." With that, he turned and headed to where the others were waiting.  
  
"Hey wait!" Jade cried "What do you mean, if something should go wrong?! Whats gonna go wrong?! Dad!! Dad, whats gonna go wrong?!?!" Jade sighed heavily and sat down on the floor of the cage. "Why do I gotta be the bait?" she mumbled "Do I look like some kinda worm?!?!"  
  
The eniter basement was as still as death, as the small group of freinds waited. Waited for something they almosted hoped would never come. Jade was a sitting duck in that cage, so many things could go wrong. What if the creature came didn't take the bait? What if it did, and Jade couldn't get out in time? Thus were the worried than plauged the minds of the girls friends.  
  
"Hey ugly monster!" Jade called ou throught the darkness "I'm sitting in a cage all by myself, with no way out. Come gobble me up!! God this is so lame!!"  
  
"Shhh!" Hojo whispered from his spot around the corner "I think its working."  
  
Jade quickly shutup, and listened. A soft growling sound was coming from down the hall, and getting closer by the second. Within minutes, Jade could make out a pair of blood red eyes, moving towards her in the darkness. "Oh crap!" the girl whispered through cleenched teeth "I want out now! Dad, let me out now!"  
  
"Just a little longer Bunny. We've almost got it!"  
  
"HA!" the creatures laughter echoed through all their minds "Do you think I am stupid? Do you think that I did not see your little trick?"  
  
"Fuck!" Reno cried "Its on to us!"  
  
"You heard it too?" Elena gasped "I thought it was just me."  
  
"Its messing with our heads." Rayne replied.  
  
"Jade get out of there!!" Rufus' voice echoed through the basement "Its gonna kill you!"  
  
"What about the plan?!" Jade called back. By now the creature was at the entrance to the cage, its long tenticles waving around like huge trees, swaying in a storm.   
  
"To hell with the plan!" Reno shouted "Just get outta there!!"  
  
Jade turned around and pushed on the back of the cage. "I... I can't get out..." she whispered sadly "The... the doors locked." She pushed again, as hard as she could, but the door wouldn't budge "I can't reach the lock from here..." Now the creature was in the cage with her, she could feel its sticky hot breath on her neck.   
  
"I gotta help her!" Rufus cried, pulling his shotgun from under his trench coat "I can't let her die!" he dashed around the corner, and began to fire at the creature in the cage.   
  
***********************************************  
  
"Rufus you idiot!" Reno yelled, following after the young president "Get your ass back here!"  
  
"Leave her alone!!" Rufus screamed, unloading round after round into the beast. The shotgun didn't seem to have much effect on the creature, all it did was make it mad. With a nasty snarl, the beast turned its attention from the trapped girl, to its new advisary. Rufus never knew what hit him, as a huge tenticle shot out from behind the beast, grabbing the president around the neck.   
  
"Noooooo!!" Jade screamed, her voice pleading "Let him go!!"  
  
The creature turned to face the frightened girl, not once releasing its grip on Rufus. Jade pressed herself against the back of the cage, with the creatures deformed face only inches from hers. "You can save him." the terrifying voice rang through the girls head "Your life for his..."  
  
Jades eyes darted from the monster before her to Rufus. The president was holding on to his last stands of life. "Let him go please." Jade begged, her eyes filled with tears "Don't kill him."  
  
"YOUR LIFE FOR HISSSSSSSS!!!!!!!"  
  
"You'd let him go?" Jade asked "If I give up, will you let him go?"  
  
"Yesssss...." the creature replied, its voice an evil hiss "You have the innocence that I need. I crave blood.. the blood of the innocent."  
  
"Alright.." Jade sighed in defeat "You win. Just let Rufus go."  
  
"No.." Rufus whispered, stuggling to breath through the grip the tenticle had around his neck "Don't do it Jade... it'll kill me anyway..."  
  
"What...?" Jade stared at the creature in shock "I knew this was a trick! Now let my friend go!!" she pressed herself harder against the cage. No matter what she did, that thing would kill her and her friends. There really was no stopping it. But that didn't mean she had to give up so easily. "LET HIM GO!" she shouted again.  
  
"NEVER!!" The creature tightened its hold on Rufus, causing the young president to choke and gasp for air. With a final squeeze, it relased him, letting Rufus' lifeless body fall to the floor.   
  
"Rufus!!!" Jade screamed, choking on a sob "Oh god no! Not him too!!"  
  
"Sir!?!" Tseng rushed to his presidents side "Rufus! SIR!!" He gently touch the young mans neck, checking for a pulse, but fearing the worse.  
  
"Is he..?" Rude whispered, afraid to hear the answer.  
  
"......" Tseng nodded slowly.  
  
"What about Jade?" Rayne cried "We have to help her while theres still time."  
  
Jade closed her eyes as the creature moved ever closer to her, its breath hot on her face. "Please..." the girl prayed silently "If ever I needed a guardian angle, nows the time. Please get me outta here alive." she continued to pray as tears streamed down her face "Please..."  
  
A slight clicking sound caused the girl to open her eyes and glance behind her. Someone was unlocking the cage from the other side, but there was no one there. Jade watched with wide eyes as the latch flipped by itsself, and the cage door swung open. Fear and confusion held the girl in place, not allowing her to make any type of escape. Suddenly, an invisable force seemed to grab her, pulling her out of the way just as the creature lunged at her.   
  
With a small yelp, Jade tumbled across the floor as the steel door slammed shut behind her. The girl pulled herself up and glanced over her shoulder to where the creature was now hissing and growling inside the cage. She wasn't sure, but she could've swore she saw the door lock by itsself again. With all her energy drained from fear, Jade fainted dead away... 


	10. chapter 10

"Jade!!" Rayne rushed to her friends side "Jade wake up!!" she gently shook the young girl.  
  
"That cage isn't gonna hold for long!" Reno shouted "Whatever we're gonna do, we need to do it NOW!!"  
  
"We can't!" Rayne cried "We have to get Jade up first."  
  
It didn't take long for them to get the girl awake, but she seemed pretty out of it. "What happened?" Jade asked wearily "Did we get it?"  
  
"For now." Rayne replied "Now get up, we have to act quick." she helped Jade to her feet "God I hope that wacked out dad of yours knows what hes doing..."  
  
"Ok now what?" Tseng asked, once they had joined Hojo as safe distance from the cage.  
  
"Fire." Hojo replied "Its the only way to stop it."  
  
"How are we gonna burn down the whole building?" Elena asked "That would take a lot of matches."  
  
"I hate to point it out," Reno spoke up "But we really don't have time. That things gonna break outta there any minute."  
  
Everyone turned to look at the caged beast. Reno was right, the steel bars were already starting to bend and snap. "I've got an idea!" Jade cried suddenly, darting off down the hall "You guys keep that thing busy for a while! Cat, you come with me!"  
  
"Keep it busy?!" Reno shouted back "How, with our good looks?!"  
  
"You'll think of something!" Jade replied "I have faith in you." she turned and disappeared down the hall, with Cait Sith right behind her.  
  
*********************************************  
  
"Where are we going?" Cait asked, once he had caught up with Jade near the elevators.  
  
"We're going up." Jade replied "Now, to find the fastest way up there. Come on cat, help me pry these elevator doors open."  
  
"Uhhhh....ok then. What are doing exactly?"  
  
"You'll see." Jade told him. Once the doors were open, the young girl climbed up through the trap door in the ceiling. "Come on cat." she said "You don't wanna be in there when I snap the cable."  
  
"Snap the cable?!?!" Cait blinked in shock "What do you mean snap the cable?!?!"  
  
"Just get up here!" Jade cried "We don't have time to goof around!"  
  
"I don't think my Moogle will fit up there..."  
  
"Sure it will." Jade replied "The doors big enough, now come on! Don't make me have to drag you up here by your stuffing!"  
  
"Ok ok, I'm coming!" Cait mumbled as he squeezed through the trap door. "Now what?" he asked.  
  
"Grab a hold of that cable." Jade said "And hold on tight. We're gonna go for a little ride."  
  
"I really hope you know what you're doing." Cait replied, grabbing onto the thick elevator cable.  
  
"Of course I do." Jade smiled reassuringly "Truuuuuust me." she pulled a small orb out of her pocket, and aimed at the bottom of the cable. "Hold on!" she cried "Lightning!!"  
  
"What the...AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" With a loud pop, the cable snapped, sending the two of them flying towards the top of the building. "Next time warn me before you do that!!" Cait cried "Hey, are the doors at the top open?"  
  
"Oh shit!" Jade cried "I knew I forgot something!"  
  
"Oh well thats just perfect!"  
  
"Just shutup, and jump when I tell you to."  
  
"Fine.. but if I die, my ghost is gonna come back and haunt you!"  
  
"You're a robot!" Jade exclaimed "You can't die! And you can't come back as a ghost! Alright, now JUMP!!"  
  
"How do I let you talk me into these things?" Cait asked as he and Jade let go of the cable and jumped towards the closed elevator door. The cable continued upwards, leaving the two friends dangling from a very narrow ledge. "Ok, now what?" Cait asked in annoyance "Are we just gonna hang around here for a while?"  
  
"Leave me alone!" Jade replied "I'm thinking!"  
  
"Hey!" Cait exclaimed, glancing out of the glass elevator shaft "I think I can see your apartment from here!"  
  
"Oh will you shutup!?!"   
  
"Gee sorry!"  
  
"I have an idea." Jade said, struggling to climb up on the ledge "I'm gonna try to get the doors open, then I'll pull you up." She pulled on the doors as hard as she could, but they wouldn't budge. "Hmmm.. a little harder than I though, but nothing to worry about."  
  
"Nothing to worry about?!?!" Cait cried "We're hanging in an an elevator shaft, thousands of feet in the air, and theres nothing to worry about?!?!"  
  
"Oh I know!" Jade replied happily "Let me see that!" she snatched the small gold crown off of the cats head "This should work."  
  
"Hey!! What are you doing with that?!" Cait cried "Thats mine!!"  
  
"I'll give it back." Jade told him "I just need something to pry the doors with." she stuck the small crown between the doors and pushed. Slowly, the door opened a crack, just enough for her to get some leverage. "See," she smiled, tossing the crown back at her friend "It worked."  
  
"But its all bent up now..." Cait pouted "And I like that crown too.."  
  
"I'll buy you a new one! Now come on!" Jade pulled Cait up through the door, and the two of them took off down the hall.  
  
****************************************  
  
"FIRE 3!!!" Rayne shouted as she held up a fire materia "Guys, I think we're just making it mad!"  
  
"Just keep it busy long enough for Jade to do whatever shes doing!" Reno shouted back "Whatever you do, don't let it get out of that cage!"  
  
"Thats easier said than done." Elena replied, reloading her gun "That cage isn't gonna hold much longer."  
  
It was true, the cage was already starting to bend and snap. And the creature didn't seem to happy about the turn of events. It roared and trashed in anger, trying its best to free itsself from its new prison. "I hope she hurries up!" Rayne cried "I don't know how long we can hold this thing!"  
  
"We'll hold it as long as we can." Reno replied, sending a blast of electricity straight towards the trapped creature. "Come on Jade!! Hurry your ass up already!!"  
  
The creature screamed in pain from Renos blast, and began to thrash around even more. Rayne was right, all they were doing was making it mad. But there really wasn't anything else they could do. They had to keep it busy, long enough for Jade to carry out whatever plan she had. All they could do was hope the girl knew what she was doing, and that they could get out of there alive.. 


	11. Chapter 11

It didn't take long for Jade and Cait to reach their destination, Scarlets office. It was a good thing the head of weapons develoment had that day off. "What are we doing in here?" Cait wanted to know. He watched as Jade sat down at Scarlets desk and pryed open a small control panel with her pocket knife. "You're not doing what I think your doing, are you?"  
  
"Depends on what you think I'm doing." Jade replied.   
  
"Well, it looks like you're about to activate the Prod Clod II." Cait answered "But thats ridiculus, considering the building has NO POWER!!!"  
  
"Oh ye of little faith." Jade smirked "I have an alternative power supply."  
  
"Oh? Whats that."   
  
"You."  
  
"WHAT?!?!" Cait took a step back and shook his head "Oh no! You're crazy!!"  
  
"Just get over here and hold still!" Jade cried "I'm gonna have to shut you down for a minute."  
  
"The things I let you talk me into..." Cait mumbled as Jade unzipped the back of his Moogle "I still think you're completely insane. You're gonna get everyone kill......" his voice trailed off as Jade pulled out his power chip.  
  
"Sorry cat." Jade patted the robots head "I'll put it back as soon as I'm done. Now, to put my plan into action." she sat down at the desk again and plugged the chip into the control panel. There was a slight hum, as the over head lights flickered for a second. "And God said, 'Let there be light'" Jade laughed to herself. The girl quickly got to work, fiddling with the buttons on the panel. Within seconds, all the buildings lights came on dimly.   
  
***************************************  
  
"Hey!" Elene cried, glancing up at the ceiling "The lights are on!"  
  
"We can see that." Reno replied "I wonder what Jades up to."  
  
"There really isn't time for this." Hojo said "If the lights are on, that means the doors are open."  
  
"I hate to say it," Rayne replied "but the little freaks right. Now would be a good time to get the hell outta here."  
  
"What about him...?" Rude asked, pointing to the caged beast.  
  
"You wanna take him with us?" Reno replied sarcastically "I doubt he'll fit in the..." the Turk was interuppted as a robotic voice echoed over the loud speaker..  
  
"Estimated time to self destruct...5 minutes and 47 seconds. All personal evacuate at once.. REPEATING... Estimated time to self destruct...5 minutes and 46 seconds. All personal evacuate at once..."  
  
"Self destruct?!?!" Reno cried "What the hell does that mean?!?!"  
  
"It means," Rayne replied "that Jades a genius, and we have to get out...NOW!!"  
  
As if to confirm Raynes statement, Jades voice broke in over the intercom. "Alright guys!" the girl shouted "I don't know how long the powers gonna last. Scarlets little toy is about to blow the whole place to kingdom come. So I suggest you get out while the doors are open."  
  
"You heard the girl!" Reno cried "Lets get the hell outta here!"  
  
No one bothered to say anything as they headed down the hall towards the stairs. All they cared to do was get out before the place went up. "Wait!" Elena cried "What about Jade?"  
  
"She'll get out in time." Reno replied "I hope.."  
  
*********************************************************  
  
Once she was sure the building had enough power to last about 5 minutes, Jade pulled Cait Siths power chip from the control panel, and slipped it back into the robot. "What happened?" Cait asked, once his power had been restored.  
  
"We getting outta here." Jade replied "Go, as fast as you can. This place is about to be blown sky high."  
  
Cait nodded and followed Jade down the hall. "We're not gonna make it!" he cried as the floor beneath them began to shake.  
  
"Yes we will!" Jade replied "Just keep going."  
  
The two of them reached the stairwell, and began the long tireing descent to the main floor. "We're not gonna make it, we're not gonna make it.." Cait kept saying over and over "30 floors in less than 5 minutes.. Theres no way!"  
  
"SHUTUP!!" Jade screamed, taking the steps 3 at a time "We are gonna make it!"  
  
After what seemed like forever, the two friends finally reached the main floor of the building. And in record time too. "How much time do we have?" Cait asked as he and Jade darted towards the exit.  
  
"1 minute and 10 seconds." Jade replied "See, told you we'd make it."  
  
"We're not out yet!" Cait cried "And I don't think we're gonna get out... look!!"  
  
With a heavy heart, Jade looked to where her friend was pointing. An ominous figure loomed before them, blocking the exit. "Holy fucking shit!" Jade cried in fear "How did it get loose?!?!"  
  
"I don't know.." Cait replied, taking a battle stance "but its blocking our only way out."  
  
"Less than a minute left.." Jade whispered as she stood her ground "Lets do this cat!"  
  
"I'm right with ya Jadie."  
  
****************************************  
  
Outside, Jades friends waited impatiently for any sign of the young girl. Time was running out fast, and Jade still hadn't made it out. "How much time?" Elena asked worriedly.  
  
"45 seconds..." Rude replied "Shes not gonna make it..."  
  
"Yes she is!!" Rayne cried "She has to!"  
  
"We should've waited for her." Reno whispered "We shouldn't have left with out her."  
  
"Theres still time!" Hojo yelled "She'll make it.. I know she will."  
  
"30 seconds." Reno spoke sadly "29....28...."  
  
"I'm going back in!" Hojo cried, darting towards the building "I have to get her out of there!"  
  
"Hojo you creep!" Reno shouted "Get back here!"  
  
The scientist ignored the shouts and went straight back into the building. For once in his life, he was going to proove to everyone that he did have a heart. He'd save his daughter, even if it meant sacrificing his own life in the process. "Bunny!?!" he called. No answer. "Bunny?!?!" The sounds of a battle from the main hall caught his attention, and he headed in that direction.  
  
******************************************  
  
"Cure!" Cait shouted, holding a cure materia up for his fallen friend. A green light surrounded Jade and she got to her feet.  
  
"Thanks cat." she smiled "But we really don't have time for this. Time to end it." the girl reached into her pocket and pulled out her most prized materia. "Reeve, Rufus, this is for you..... ULTIMATE END!!!!"  
  
The eniter room went pitch black, only to light up again as the 13 knights of the round attacked the hidious beast before them. "I'd say this it the pefect time to escape." Cait suggested.   
  
"I'd say you're right." Jade replied "Lets go!"  
  
"Bunny!" the sound of her fathers voice caused Jade to stop dead in her tracks and turn around. Hojo was rushing towards them from a back hallway. "You're alright!" he cried.  
  
"I'm fine papa." Jade blinked "I thought you got out already."  
  
"I came back to get you."  
  
"Well lets just get outta here." Jade replied "Before we all get blown up."  
  
"Good idea."  
  
The three of them darted towards the exit, with only 10 seconds left. Unfortunately, the huge monster had other plans. Once KoTR had finished dishing out their respective damage, the creature was still going. And it was about to make one final attack. With a deafening roar, one of its razor like tenticles shot out, heading straight for Jade.  
  
"Bunny!!" Hojo cried, shoving his daughter out of the way.   
  
Jade slid across the floor with a slight gasp, as the tenticle slashed Hojo instead. The girl watched with tear filled eyes as blood spilled onto the white marbel floor, her fathers eyes closing as he fell. "Papa!!!!!"  
  
"JADE!!!" Cait Sith yelled from the doorway "You have to get out!"  
  
"I can't..." Jade replied "I can't leave him.."  
  
"Hes dead Jadie..." the voice caused Jade to lift her head. It wasn't Cait who had spoken that time. Jade gasped in shock as her green eyes met a pair of dark blue ones.   
  
"Reeve...?" that was all she managed to whisper, before a blinding light lit up the entier building as it exploded... 


	12. Chapter 12

"JAAAAADE!!!" Rayne screamed as the ShinRa building exploded "Nooooo!!!!!"  
  
"She....she didn't make it..." Rude lowered his eyes, a solitary tear falling from his eye.  
  
"Goddamnit!!" Reno cried "We should've went back for her!!"  
  
"I can't believe shes gone..." Elene whispered, her voice thick with sadness "I just can't believe Jades gone."  
  
"Hey look!!" Rayne cried, pointing towards the now smoking pile of rubble where the building had once stood.   
  
One by one, the others raised the heads towards the scene of mass destuction. A figure was slowly making its was through the thick, blinding smoke.   
  
************************************  
  
Jade glanced around her in astonishment. Although she had never seen the place before, she knew exactly where she was. "Oh great!" she cried "I'm dead!!"  
  
"Not exactly.." came a voice from behind her.   
  
Jade spun around, only to come face to face with her best friend. "Reeve!" she cried "Is it really you?"  
  
"Last time I checked." Reeve smiled "Aren't you glad to see me Jadie?"  
  
"Well....yeah, of course I am.." Jade replied "But if I'm not dead.. then why the hell am I in the Lifestream with you?"  
  
"Ok, ya got me. You are dead."  
  
"I knew it!! Well, this really puts a damper on my day... Say, wheres pretty boy? Shouldn't he be here too?"  
  
"Hes around." Reeve replied "I think you dads lurking somewhere too. Jade, you're not supposed to be here."  
  
"What?"  
  
"It wasn't your time. You have to go back now."  
  
"But I don't wanna go back.." Jade pouted "I wanna stay here with you."  
  
"If only you could Jadie." Reeve sighed "But its just not your time."  
  
"I have nothing to go back to." Jade lowered her eyes "You're dead...and now the only family I had left is dead too. I have nothing..."  
  
"Thats not true and you know it!" Reeve shouted "You have your friends. And they care about you. Think how sad they'd be if they lost you."  
  
"But I'll miss you." Jade whispered "I'd miss you so much."  
  
"I'll miss you too Jadie. But everything will be ok, I promise."  
  
"It was you wasn't it?" Jade asked, lifting her head to stare at her friend "You were the one who unlocked the cage so I could get out."  
  
Reeve shrugged. "Just think of me as your guardian angel." he replied "Its time for you to go now Jadie. Take good care of Cait Sith for me."  
  
"I will..." Jade replied sadly, her eyes filling up with tears.  
  
"We'll see each other again sometime." Reeve told her "Now cheer up. Things are never as bad as they seem." He hugged her tightly, placing a gentle kiss on the top of her head, as the Lifestream began to disappear.  
  
"Reeve!!" Jade cried "Don't leave... please...."  
  
*****************************************  
  
"Hey, I think she's coming around." Renos voice drifted into Jades mind, causing the girl to open her eyes.  
  
"Oh Jade!" Rayne hugged her friend "I was so afraid we'd lost you for good."  
  
"What.... what happened?" Jade asked, struggling to sit up "How did I get out?"  
  
"Cait Sith got you out." Elena replied happily "I'm so glad you're alright."  
  
"Don't YOU ever scare ME like that!" Rude shouted, giving Jade a little punch in the arm.  
  
Jade smiled slightly. "Serves you right for scaring me earlier." she replied "You guys wouldn't believe where I just was. I was dead. And I went to the Lifestream and saw Reeve."  
  
"You're right." Reno laughed "We wouldn't believe it."  
  
"Its true!" Jade cried "He was the one who unlocked the cage for me. I really was dead for a minute. And let me tell you something, I don't ever wanna be dead again."  
  
"Why?" Tseng asked "Cause you'd miss us too much?"  
  
"Nah." Jade shook her head "Cause you guys would be lost without me. Who would you have to bug the hell out of you?"  
  
"Oh Leviathan..." Reno rolled his eyes as everyone tackled Jade in a big hug. The Gods had smiled upon them that night. Although they had lost three members of their group in one fatefull night, the rest had escaped with their lives. And that was something to be very thankful for. 


	13. Chapter 13

*This last chapter is dedicated to all my friends over on the TurkBoard, my absolute fave message board. They helped me keep this thing going. Without them, I never would've finished this thing.*  
  
(The song is One Last Breath by Creed. I thought it was the perfect song for this ending. I hope you all like it.)  
  
  
ONE WEEK LATER...  
  
"Madam president?" Tseng slowly poked his head into the small office "We're ready when you are."  
  
Jade raised her head and nodded slowly. "Alright." she replied "Give me a minute."  
  
Tseng nodded and left the room. It had been one week since that terrible night, and plans had already been made to rebuild the ShinRa building. Jade had been elected to office only days before. Rufus had no family, and Jade was the only person who knew enough about the company to run it correctly. That and the people of Midgar seemed to like the young girl. At the moment, everyone was forced to work out of Reeves old office in Junon. The space was small, but it was better than nothing.  
  
The newly elected president sighed as she pushed her chair out and stood up. "Time to go.." she whispered to herself, pulling her long black trench coat on, and heading out of her office....  
  
********************************  
  
Please come now, I think I'm falling  
I'm holding on to all I think is safe  
It seems I've found the road to nowhere  
And I'm trying to escape  
I yelled back when I heard thunder  
But I'm down to one last breath  
And with it let me say  
Let me say  
  
Jade slowly made her way out of the small building, her eyes lowered in sadness, as she walked down to the beach where her friends were waiting for her. They greated her with smiles and hugs, each one congradulating her on her recent election.  
  
Hold me now  
I'm 6 feet from the edge and I'm thinking  
Maybe 6 feet  
Ain't so far down  
  
The sun was begining to set in the horizon, casting a beautiful red and orange glow across the ocean. Jade sighed heavily as Reno handed her a small bowl with three white candles in it. The young girl knelt in the sand and chanted a slient prayer as she lit each candle.  
  
I'm looking down now that it's over  
Reflecting on all of my mistakes  
I thought I found the road to somewhere  
Somewhere in HIS grace  
I cried out heaven save me  
But I'm down to one last breath  
And with it let me say  
Let me say  
  
Everyone was quiet for a moment, before Jade finally spoke. "What has traspired, we will never forget." she whispered through her tears "The souls that were lost will remain with us forever. Their spirits will guide and protect us all through our lives. We will NEVER forget...."  
  
Hold me now  
I'm 6 feet from the edge and I'm thinking  
Maybe 6 feet  
Ain't so far down  
Hold me now  
I'm 6 feet from the edge and I'm thinking  
Maybe 6 feet  
Ain't so far down  
  
With a heavy heart, Jade placed the small bowl into the water, and pushed it out into the vast blue sea. Her friends lowered thier heads in respect and sadness. Although they had lost people they cared about, they knew they're memories would live on forever. Nothing would ever change that.  
  
Sad eyes follow me  
But I still believe there's something left for me  
So please come stay with me  
'Cause I still believe there's something left for you and me  
For you and me  
For you and me  
  
"Goodbye my friends..." Jade whispered as she stood up "May you all rest in peace. Perhaps we'll be together again someday..." The silence that followed was deafening, as the group watch the candles float away, their glow getting fainter and fainter.  
  
Hold me now  
I'm 6 feet from the edge and I'm thinking  
Hold me now  
I'm 6 feet from the edge and I'm thinking  
Maybe 6 feet  
Ain't so far down  
  
Jade watched through tear filled eyes as the candles got further and further away. Her heart was breaking all over again. So much had happened to her, how would she ever learn to move on? A gentle touch on her shoulder gave her the answer she was looking for. Turning around, she smiled at her friends. Reeve had been right, she still had alot to live for. Her friends had all become like family to her. And she would trade them for anything in the world.  
  
Hold me now  
I'm 6 feet from the edge and I'm thinking  
Maybe 6 feet  
Ain't so far down  
  
With one final goodbye, the small group of friends turned and headed back towards the city of Junon. They would never forget the ones they had lost. Even Hojo would remain in their memories. He had given his life to save Jades, and had prooved once and for all that he did have a heart. Although things would never be the same, they would get better. Jade glanced up and smiled as Reno put his arm around her shoulders. Yes, things would get better. Time would heal all their wounds, time would heal everything. The six friends walked slowly back to the city, images of their lost friends forever etched into their hearts. Though nothing would ever take their places, their spirits would live on in those they had left behind.....  
  
Please come now, I think I'm falling  
I'm holding on to all I think is safe 


End file.
